How Star Wars: Rogue One Plans To Use John Williams’ Iconic Music

Rogue One is not going to be like your normal Star Wars film. Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm who has been tasked with overseeing the expansion of the franchise, has already revealed that the standalone film won't include a famous scrawl, while it's also the first Star Wars film not to feature a score from the iconic John Williams. His replacement, Michael Giacchino, has opened up about stepping into such gargantuan shoes, while at the same time admitting that around 5% of Rogue One's music comes from John Williams.

Michael Giacchino made this admission while chatting with Entertainment Weekly about his work on Rogue One, while also revealing that John Williams' past work on the likes of Jaws, Superman, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park inspired his own career as a composer. Talking about the likes of John Williams' Star Wars music in Rogue One, Michael Giacchino explained:

There are a couple of times when you want to hit upon something that was from the past. For me, even as a fan, it was about going, 'Oh, this particular idea would be great if we did it here. I would want to see that if I were watching a Star Wars movie.' As a kid who grew up with John's music and who was catapulted in this direction because of what he did, I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to use and how I wanted to use it. That being said, I'd say the score is 95 percent original but with little moments [of Williams' classic score] here or there to accent. If I were sitting in that seat and I heard that, it would totally raise the hairs on my neck.

The trailers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyhave already teased just how John Williams' work will feature in the blockbuster, as Michael Giacchino's score sounds eerily familiar to some of the classic music from Star Wars' past. You can hear the similarities for yourself by clicking below and listening, as well as watching, the latest trailer for Rogue One.

Michael Giacchino's own journey to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hasn't been quite as smooth as John Williams' original hiring back in 1977 for Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, which simply saw Williams recommended to George Lucas by Steven Spielberg. In fact, Giacchino actually only began to work on Rogue One back in September, when he was asked to replace Alexandre Desplat (Argo, The Grand Budapest Hotel), with scheduling difficulties cited as the reason by Lucasfilm following the extensive reshoots over the summer.

However, this did allow Michael Giacchino's involvement with the new batch of Star Wars films to come full circle, after he made a cameo in The Force Awakens. We'll get to see/hear how he fares on Rogue Onewhen it's finally released on December 16.